


Call Me Zayn

by JoMouse



Series: Tumblr Prompts [36]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Airplanes, Alternate Universe, Don't copy to another site, M/M, Meet-Cute, Screenwriter Liam, Writer Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 01:37:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20127235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Zayn takes a plane home to England and is sat beside someone reading the first book he ever published.





	Call Me Zayn

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!!!!
> 
> This story was inspired by a prompt I got aeons ago on tumblr from someone I lovingly call _Little Angel_:
> 
>   * author of book gets seated next to someone reading their book and making entertaining faces at each scene au. Ziam please ~LA
> 
> I had fun writing this and I don't know if I completely stuck to the prompt, but I hope everyone enjoys it anyway.
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Zayn stumbled down the aisle of the plane, eyes barely open as he attempted to find his seat. The past three days of bookstore signings in three different states had nearly been the death of him. This had been the first book tour he’d done; his life long battle with anxiety holding him back in the past. Now, thanks to therapy and meds, he’d decided to give it a try and his publicist had taken full advantage when Zayn had finally agreed to tour.

He’d been surprised by the number of people that had shown up at each stop on the month-long, twenty city tour. So many had wanted to talk more than he had time for, but the most surreal was the number of fans that expressed gratitude for finally knowing what he looked like. It had been overwhelming really how often he’d been complimented on his looks instead of his writing.

It had all ended just in time. He’d woken up that very morning, his skin feeling too tight and barely made it through that day’s signing without screaming at someone or hyperventilating. He had never been more relieved to step onto a plane than he was at that moment, knowing he was finally headed back home for a self-imposed two-week break. All he needed to do was get through an eight-hour redeye flight. He finally found his row, sliding in and collapsing into the window seat with a groan.

He tilted his head back, stretching out his neck and turning it for the satisfying crack, ignoring his mother’s voice in his head lecturing about arthritis. He opened one eye, studying the two empty seats next to him, wondering if they would remain empty so he could stretch out and sleep for the duration of the flight. Just as the thought had been completely formed someone dropped into the middle seat, elbow-bumping Zayn.

“Sorry, man,” he said, flushing and pulling his arms in so he was squeezed into the seat.

“No worries,” Zayn responded, although his internal monologue was completely different. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, extracting his earbuds, setting to work to untangle them before popping one into his ear, he’d put in the other after all the inflight announcements were made.

The guy next to him was digging in a small bag, pulling out a battered paperback before sliding the bag under his seat. He opened the book, bending the cover around so Zayn couldn’t catch the title and although he told himself he didn’t care what the book was, he almost asked. He’d opened his mouth, but the flight attendant caught their attention and began his safety instructions for the flight and the guy settled the book into his lap, letting it fall shut and Zayn caught the title.

He closed his eyes on a sigh, apologizing when the guy turned to look at him, big eyebrows gathered in concern. “Alright?”

“All good,” Zayn told him, waving a hand and trying not to stare at the book, his book, his first book that had been published when he was sixteen years old and still in Year 11 at school. 

The spy novel,  _ Dusk Till Dawn _ , had been highly successful, earning him enough to pay for Uni. He’d published five books since that first one, but it was still his most popular and as of a few days earlier, was optioned to be made into a movie. Once he’d greenlighted the option, they hired some promising newcomer to adapt it into a screenplay which was supposed to be delivered to him within a month for approval.

“You sure?” the guy asked, holding out a hand when Zayn nodded. “I’m Liam. Figure I should introduce myself since we’ll be sharing air for the next however-many hours.”

“Zayn,” he responded, taking the hand, thankful he published under the pen name of Rodger Malik and that only his most recent book included an author picture. “And it’s about eight hours.” They shared a pained smile and then faced forward in their seats for takeoff.

Once the flight was in the air, Liam returned his attention to the book and Zayn was pulled out of his thoughts by a snort next to him. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liam with a hand over his mouth, eyes twinkling for a second before he looked around the cabin, cheeks pink. Once his face had faded back to a normal colour, Liam reached under the seat and pulled out a pencil making a note in the margins of the book. He slipped the pencil behind his ear before returning his attention back to reading, face twisting into a smirk as his eyes scanned the pages. 

Zayn pulled out his Kindle, opening up his own copy of the book and glancing over, trying to figure out which part Liam had just read that garnered such a reaction. He thought he’d found it just as Liam muttered an oath under his breath, drawing Zayn’s full focus. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Liam apologized, waving a hand between them. After he regained his composure, he flipped the book closed and showed Zayn the cover. “You ever read this?”

Zayn bit his lower lip, trying to figure out how to answer without giving himself away, distracted as Liam’s eyes jumped down to his lips before jumping up to his eyes and then away to the cover of the book. “I’m familiar with it, yeah,” he finally answered.

“I haven’t read this one in years. I’m a massive fan of the author, but this one got lost in boxes at my parents’ house,” Liam told him. “Thankfully, they had it because I have to reread it quickly.”

Zayn snorted. “Are you studying it in class?” Liam looked like he could be in uni if he’d taken a couple of gap years.

“No. No. I’m actually…” He trailed off and chewed his lower lip for a moment. “I’m not sure I can tell you.”

Zayn shrugged, a thought tickling at the edge of his mind. “I’m not going to tell anyone.” He turned back to his Kindle, sliding a finger to turn the page but not really reading. 

Liam fidgeted in his seat for a few minutes, fingers running over the cover of the book and picking at the worn edges. “I’m writing a screenplay for it,” he blurted out, confirming Zayn’s suspicions, a soft feeling squeezing his heart at the eagerness on Liam’s face. “It’s my first major work and I’m really nervous about getting it right.”

“Why?” Zayn asked, eyes still averted to the printed words on the page and he smiled as he actually read some bits about the young man who had been shouldered with a mysterious briefcase.

A laugh burst out of Liam. “It’s not enough that if I don’t get it right, I could ruin my dream career before it’s even started?” He shook his head and tucked the book back into his backpack and Zayn closed the cover of his Kindle and set it in his lap, folding his hands over it. Leaning back against the backrest, he turned his head to look at Liam who mirrored the position. He studied Zayn’s face for a few moments before continuing to speak. “I really admire the author, although I don’t know much about him other than he writes really good books and that he started really young. I can’t imagine someone going after their dream career at such a young age and attaining it. I’m twenty-seven and am just now getting my first chance at my dream.”

“It’s never too late to achieve your dreams. I’m guessing this author was just a beneficiary of right place, right time,” Zayn told him. “If you really want this, I’m sure you can do it.”

Liam smiled, but it was tight and his eyes glittered wetly as he cleared his throat. “The funny thing is that if I screw this up, if it’s so awful that Mr. Malik laughs at me, I’m not sure if I’ll be more upset about losing my dream or insulting Mr. Malik’s talent.”

Zayn felt his cheeks heating up and was thankful for his darker complexion hiding the blush. “So, what I’m hearing is that your goal is to do his work justice in order to, what, impress him?”

“It would definitely be a bonus, especially since he has final script approval,” he responded. “I was supposed to go to his book signing earlier to pick up his newest book and get a look at him, maybe introduce myself, but I missed it because I overslept after staying up too late reading the book through and making preliminary notes.”

Zayn wondered what would have happened had Liam come to the signing, would he have stood out from the rest of the crowd or would he not have recognized him when they got on the plane. The faces of the crowds blended together and it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d run into someone from a signing and had no memory of them. Liam smiled shyly as the silence went on and Zayn knew he would have definitely remembered him, if only for that smile.

“Shame you missed out. I’ve heard  _ Let Me _ is a sequel of sorts to that one. It might give you some insight on what you can leave out,” Zayn said, gesturing towards the bag the book was stored in as a yawn escaped, nearly cracking Zayn’s jaw before he could stop it.

Liam sat up, looking apologetic as he started shifting around in his seat. “Man, go to sleep. I need to get back to the book anyway. I have a self-imposed goal to finish re-reading the book and making one page of notes by the time we land.”

Zayn’s eyes drifted shut as he nodded. “Self-imposed goals are important,” he murmured. He watched through his eyelashes as Liam bent over to grab the book again. 

Sleep fell to the wayside as Zayn observed Liam’s face as he read; it was never still. His lips twisted into tiny smirks or frowns as his eyebrows moved as his concentration increased. Tiny gasps would escape from time to time; Zayn would bite his tongue to keep from interrupting and asking what part he had just read. Since he knew that Liam had read the book numerous times before, he felt a warmth grow as each reaction was still drawn out of him; he was responsible for those emotions. Eventually, sleep took over, the last image was of Liam scribbling intently in the margins of his book.

Something poked Zayn in the cheek, pulling him from his slumber. Blinking slowly, Liam’s face came into focus, eyes crinkled shut as he smiled. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, giggling. “Plane's about to land. Seatbelts and upright positions and all that rot.”

Zayn stretched, reaching for his seatbelt, but it was still fastened from when he’d gotten on the plane. He watched Liam get settled, the book and pencil were gone. “Did you finish?”

Liam nodded, his smile growing. “I finished reading the book, got  _ three _ pages of notes, as well as writing the opening scene.” He looked serious for a moment. “I’m not completely confident about it, though.”

“You should email the author, get some feedback,” Zayn suggested, remembering that he’d instructed his agent to provide the screenwriter with his contact information, including his email address.

“You don’t think that would be annoying? Or unprofessional?” Liam asked, his eyes sparkling with hope as Zayn’s stomach swooped, but he blamed that on the plane rapidly losing altitude.

“I have a pretty good feeling that Rodger would be more than happy to receive your email,” Zayn told him, jumping as the plane bounced with the wheel’s impact against the tarmac.

Liam looked conflicted before giving a determined nod of his head. “You’re right and if he’s bothered, then maybe I don’t want to work on his book anyway,” Liam announced, the slight wobble in his voice belying the confidence of his words.

“Don’t judge him before you know him.” Zayn released his seatbelt as soon as the light turned off above him, ready to get back to his flat. His thoughts were focused on showering off the travel on him and falling into his own bed to sleep for at least a day.

They continued chatting as they gathered their things and got off the plane, Liam worrying and Zayn trying to reassure him while at the same time internally freaking out at how Liam would react when he found out who he was. They were standing at the baggage claim when someone tackled Liam, nearly knocking him to the ground. “Dammit, Niall,” Liam muttered, pushing himself to stand. “Give a guy some warning.”

“You love me and missed me,” the blond said before turning his attention to a chuckling Zayn. “What’s so-” He cut himself off and stared, eyes wide and Zayn felt his heart skip several beats.

The sudden immobility of his friend caught Liam’s attention. “Mate, you alright?” He looked between Niall and Zayn, face twisted in confusion and concern.

“Do you know who that is?” Niall asked, jabbing a finger into Zayn’s chest, forcing him to take a step back; if he’d had his bag already, he would’ve made a break for it, but none of their bags had been released yet.

“Zayn,” Liam responded, face twisted in confusion as he exchanged a look with Zayn. “He sat next to me on the plane and helped me with my internal freakout over the screenplay.”

Now it was Niall’s turn to look confused. “Zayn?” he questioned, poking his chest again before turning his attention to the bag he was carrying displaying the name of the bookstore located in the airport.

“Yeah, Zayn,” Zayn said, emphasizing his name, trying to get this guy to drop it before he said something to ruin the tenuous path to friendship he and Liam had begun only hours earlier.

Niall reached into the bag and pulled out a hardcover book that Zayn recognized immediately, holding it out to Liam. “The bookstore had a big poster advertising this, so I picked it up for you. I know you were bummed that you missed out. Maybe you can still get it signed.” 

“Fuck,” Zayn muttered and started digging into his own bag, hoping he had something to write with stuffed in there.

“What do you-” Liam’s voice cut off as he flipped the book over and saw Zayn’s face staring back at him. He looked down at the book and back up at Zayn several times. “What?”

“Would you believe he’s my evil twin?” Zayn tried, shrugging and looking sheepish.

“No,” Liam said, voice tight and eyes shifting away as the buzzer sounded announcing their bags were dropping. 

Before Zayn could open his mouth to speak, Liam dropped the book on the ground and walked away, leaving him and Niall in uncomfortable silence. “I didn’t lie to him,” he finally said. “My name is Zayn.”

Niall turned to the carousel and darting forward to grab a bight red bag as Zayn bent down to pick up the book off the ground. Flipping it open, he scribbled quickly before looking up to see Niall walking away with the red suitcase bouncing along behind him. Hurrying, Zayn grabbed him and shoved the book at Niall. “Tell him-”

“No,” Niall said. “I’m not telling him anything. He’s embarrassed right now, but you’ll be working together on the script; he won’t give that up. You can talk to him then.” He took the book though and walked away leaving Zayn to stare after him, his chest tightening and his hands scrambling to grab his pills out of his pocket.

***

Liam sat in front of his laptop, scratching idly between the ears of his dog, Loki, as he stared at the scene he’d already typed out based on the notes he’d made on the plane. He didn’t hate it as much as he had at first, but he still wondered what Rodger -  _ correction - _ what Zayn would think of it. He looked over at the book Niall had handed to him in the car, fingers dancing over the author picture. It was a shame that someone so damn good looking was a liar.

He’d honestly considered backing out of the screenplay project out of humiliation, but he couldn’t give up this chance just because he let someone make a fool of him. He looked back at his screen and decided that no matter how much Zayn had deceived him, he had actually encouraged him to send the first scene in for an opinion. Using the information he’d been provided, he shared the file with Zayn’s google address and then stepped away from the computer.

He made himself something to eat, focusing on his hands as he chopped vegetables and simmered them in broth to make a sauce for some of the handmade pasta he’d stored in his refrigerator before he’d left on his trip. He heard a ping from his computer but decided to ignore it until after he was done eating. As he set a plate for himself at the island in his kitchen, he glanced at the book. Grabbing it, he settled in to read while he ate.

He opened the cover to the dedication page, freezing with his fork halfway to his mouth, the noodles dropping off with a plop, splattering the page with sauce. Scrawled across the lower half of the page in yellow Sharpie, barely readable against the ivory of the page were two words:  _ I’m sorry _ followed by Zayn’s signature and a phone number. It definitely said Zayn and not Rodger, something Liam was sure none of the other books that he’d signed would.

His computer pinged again, drawing Liam out of his thoughts. Rising from the chair, he carried the book over and sat in front of his laptop looking at the file and noticing words at the bottom of the page that hadn’t been there when he’d sent the email. These words were actually in comic sans which made Liam chuckle a bit.

Still holding the book, he began to read the words on the screen.

_ Liam, _

_ First, the scene is really good. You definitely have a feel for the character already, so I have confidence that you are the right person to do the adaptation. I’m glad you have chosen to continue working on the project despite what occurred between us. _

_ Speaking of that (and I guess secondly), I am so sorry that I didn’t tell you right away who I was. I don’t have any excuse for it except being stupid, but I hope that you can forgive me. _

_ I liked the person I met on the plane, I just hope that you did as well, despite him being a filthy liar who lies. _

_ Zayn _

There was a phone number following his name, the same one that had been scrawled in the book and Liam reached for his phone. He entered the number under a new contact and then debated what name to use, finally settling on Malik since that seemed to be the same whether he was Zayn or Rodger. Once he’d saved it using a photo he snapped of the author picture, he turned his phone off and logged out of his computer. 

He needed to push away everything that was swirling through his brain for a few more hours before he did something irrational. First, he finished eating his dinner while staring at the clock over his stove. Once the food was gone, he cleaned up the kitchen and headed into his bedroom. The clock said it was still early, but he just flipped it around so it wasn’t judging him and crawled under his covers, curling up around his already snoozing pup and closing his eyes allowing sleep to pull him under.

***

Zayn stared at the screen, waiting for some kind of response from Liam. He’d honestly been surprised when the email had come giving him access to edit a Google doc and he’d almost just looked it over and left a professional note, but he couldn’t let the opportunity to apologize again pass him by. As the time stretched, he wondered if Liam had even seen it, but when his icon disappeared from the top of the screen he was convinced he had and then logged off without any kind of acknowledgement.

Zayn debated adding more to the note but thought better of it. The ball was in Liam’s court firmly now and even if they only continued on as Author and Screenwriter, that was better than nothing. Ideally, he’d love for them to be friends and maybe more, Liam was attractive and smart and funny after all, but he would take whatever the other man was willing to give him. After spending far too long staring at the screen, he logged off and dragged himself to his bed.

The next morning, despite Zayn’s plans to do absolutely nothing work-related for two weeks, he found himself logging onto his laptop and into his professional email. There was nothing from Liam and although he tried to tell himself he wasn’t disappointed, he was. Pushing back from the desk, he grabbed his phone and decided to distract himself by going for a run. His sleepwear of basketball shorts and a vest could easily double as workout gear, so he threw on his trainers and grabbed his earbuds before heading out the door.

He fell into a good rhythm, music flowing through the earbuds, the bass matching the pace of his feet against the pavement. He allowed the world to flow past him in a haze of colours, ignoring details and just losing himself in the exercise, his mind a glorious blank canvas. He managed to get to the park without running into anyone and began jogging through the trails. The impact of his feet on the packed earth was so different from the pavement that it altered his rhythm enough that he began to come back to himself, noticing his surroundings with a hint of surprise.

He’d grown up not far from this park and it had been on a fallen tree trunk, spliff tight between his lips, that he’d come up with the idea for his first novel. His ‘friends’ had all laughed at him, proving just how poor the choices he’d made in his life had been up until then. The only one who hadn’t laughed was Louis ‘Tommo’ Tomlinson who had from that moment on pushed and encouraged until he’d sent the manuscript off to numerous companies. He’d also been the one who’d told him to use a pen name, but not too different; that way he could claim to be related to the author without getting flack for being an author at seventeen. That had been the birth of Rodger Malik.

Up until a few days earlier, he’d never regretted the pen name. He’d revelled in being able to hide, even from his own extended family. He’d never felt the need to introduce himself as anything other than Zayn and no one knew the difference until this last book, until he’d finally allowed his publisher to use an author photo because he’d be doing signings and people would see him anyway. Although he’d known he’d lose a bit of his anonymity because of it, he hadn’t fully realized exactly what that meant and how much he was at risk of losing.

His mood was spiralling and he could feel tingles in his fingers which usually preceded an anxiety attack so he slowed to a walk. Flipping through options on his phone, he found the meditation app and started a simple breathing exercise. He was in the middle of trying to locate the negativity in his body when something hit him in the shins and sent him sprawling across the ground. 

Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the sky switching his self-evaluation form negativity to pain and injury, quickly finding a stinging sensation in both knees, the palm of his left hand and the knuckles of his right. Glancing down to see the injuries, he saw that his phone screen had also shattered. Cursing, he dropped his head back against the ground, wondering if a giant bird would come and sweep him away.

In lieu of a giant bird, a wet tongue ran up the side of his face pulling a laugh from him as he tried to push away the small ball of black and white fur that was dancing around his head, darting in to lick whenever Zayn dropped his hands. Reaching up, he yanked out an earbud in time to hear someone shouting, “Loki!” in the distance.

He had just managed to use his elbows to push himself up into a seated position, the dog climbing into his lap and continuing his assault on Zayn’s face when someone came to an abrupt stop right next to him. The person stumbled, nearly falling over top of him, stopped only by Zayn reaching up and pushing against their stomach. He hissed and yanked his injured hand back, curling into himself as much as he could with the dog still refusing to climb off him.

A hand hooked under his arm, pulling him to his feet slowly, a voice asking if he was alright as he was guided over to a fallen tree trunk on the side of the trail. He let himself be sat down, the dog putting his front paws on Zayn’s thigh and barking as his saviour squatted down in front of him, allowing him a good look for the first time. “Liam?”

Liam’s face was closed off but he nodded. “And Loki,” he said, pointing to the dog who jumped away when Liam reached for his collar. “He got away from me and I’m guessing somehow managed to trip you. He does it to me at home all the time and then won’t get off of me until he’s sure I’m alright.”

Zayn looked away from Liam down to Loki who had climbed atop the tree and laid his head on Zayn’s thigh, looking up at him with the sweetest puppy eyes he’d ever seen. He ran his wrist over the pup’s head, earning a happy puppy smile that he couldn’t help but mirror. “It’s alright, things happen,” Zayn said looking up at Liam, catching him studying Zayn’s knees. “I’ll call a car to get me home; you can continue your walk.”

“No. I, literally, live across the street. Let me take you there and fix you up. It’s the least I can do,” Liam argued, standing and reaching for Zayn’s elbow again. 

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t take strangers home,” Zayn told him, smiling a bit when Liam gave him a concerned look.

“Did you hit your head?” Liam asked, reaching up to feel over the back of Zayn’s head, his hand dropped when he stepped out of his reach and held out the hand with the injured knuckles. 

“Hi, my name’s Rodger Malik, but my friends call me Zayn,” he said, smile growing, tongue pressing against his teeth and eyes disappearing into a squint when Liam laughed.

“I’m Liam Payne, big fan of your work, Mr. Malik,” he said. “Allow me to take you back to mine and fix up the injuries caused by my dog.” He held out his arm for Zayn to take while wrapping Loki’s leash around his other hand.

Zayn slipped his arm through Liam’s and squeezed it gently. “Gladly, but only if you call me Zayn.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr: [josjournal](http://josjournal.tumblr.com).


End file.
